Chief of State: Thomas Klestil
Prime Minister: Wolfgang Schuessel
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Benita Ferrero-Waldner

Area: 83,859 km²
Population: 8,139,310 inhabitants
Capital: Vienna
Language: German
Currency: Euro
Unemployment: 4,3%

GDP: 216,383.392 million Euro
Per Capita GDP: 26,050 Euro (prediction 2002)
Growth Rate: 1%
Inflation: 1.7%
Debt/GDP: 68.7%
Deficit/GDP: 0.6%
Eurostat 2002

Country

Austria is a Federal Republic composed of nine regions, one of which is the capital Vienna, subdivided into districts and town councils. The political system is based on a bicameral Parliament with legislative power: the 183 members of the Lower House are elected for four years by universal suffrage, according to a system of proportional representation. The Upper House, the Bundesrat, has 62 regional representatives elected by the regional assemblies in numbers proportional to the population.

Following the elections in November 2002, a new coalition government was formed in late February 2003, with a lower majority than in the previous legislature. The coalition is composed of the People's Party (?P), who became the leading political party with 42% of the votes and 79 seats, and the Liberal Nationalists (FP?, whose share of votes fell from 26.9% to 10%, winning them only 18 seats. Remaining in the opposition are the Social Democrats (SP?, who rose to 36.51% with 69 seats, but who lost their first place among Austrian parties for the first time since 1966, and the Greens, who won 9.47% of the votes and 19 seats.

Foreign Policy

Austria has been part of the European Union since 1 January 1995 (following a 1994 referendum in which 66.4% voted in favour) and of the Schengen area.

From a military point of view, the country is neutral, as laid down in the constitutional law passed by arliament in 1955 following the signing of the Treaty which put an end to post-war Allied occupation. It nevertheless adheres to the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) and, since February 1995, has been part of the NATO Partnership for Peace. Austria has traditionally been an active member of the United Nations, which has a permanent headquarters in Vienna, as well as a member of the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), whose Secretariat and Permanent Council have headquarters in the Austrian capital.

Economy

In the table published by the IMD (the International Institute for Management Development) on country competitiveness, Austria was classified 13th in the world (in 1998 it was 24th, and 14th in 2001). Its economic success is based on a qualified workforce and good relations between the various social actors. The tertiary sector (62.8%) accounts for two thirds of the GDP (66.3% in 2001), in particular tourism, banks and artisan industries. The chemical, mechanical and energy industries provide 31.5% of the national income, and agriculture 2.2%. Due to its fairly limited domestic market, in recent years Austria's industries have focussed increasingly on exports, above all to the countries of central and south-eastern Europe where Austria is not only the major business partner, but also the largest investor. Austria exports above all machinery, paper, wood, textiles materials and foodstuffs. The European Commission has forecast a GDP growth of 1.2% for 2003.

Source: Italian EU presidency